


The Meaning of Family

by Ellana17



Category: The Proposal (2009)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Humor, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29217147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17
Summary: Alicia doesn't care what everybody says, her boss is the best.
Relationships: Andrew Paxton/Margaret Tate
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	The Meaning of Family

The least you could say was that Margaret Tate sort of had a reputation in the business. Bob Spaulding, who had become Alicia's boss during the short few weeks it took her to switch companies had nothing nice to say about the woman in question. Not that Alicia paid any mind to his rambling. She preferred to know people before judging them too harshly.

Getting to work as Margaret Tate's executive assistant was a rare opportunity and Alicia had been both thrilled and terrified by the chance that had been given her. She had imagined her new boss to be cold and distant – and she was – but Alicia's first day at work had started with her new boss puking her guts out and Alicia making an emergency run to the nearest drugstore to buy a pregnancy test. Needless to say, their relationship could never have remained strictly professional after that.

Alicia did not know Mr. Paxton – Margaret's husband – all that well. He always seemed really nice and kind and everybody at the office loved the guy. The other employees could not understand how a nice guy like him could have ended up with a bitch like Tate but other employees did not see what Alicia could see.

People said Margaret had changed in the past year. Alicia had heard the story of Margaret and Mr. Paxton before, from the earliest office gossip – some people had actually bet on their relationship long before they became involved – to the way Mr. Paxton had come literally running from Alaska to stop Margaret from being deported. That was still the talk of the office even one year later. It was probably hard, Alicia thought, being married to someone working in the same office but they made it work.

Alicia was walking towards Margaret's office with a cup of coffee in her hands when she spotted Dan – Mr. Paxton's assistant – talking to two strangers just outside Margaret's office. Alicia immediately recognized both women as Mr. Paxton's mother and grandmother for having seen the photograph sitting proudly on Margaret's desk at the office. Her boss usually referred to them as "Andrew's family" or even "my family" and Alicia was surprised to notice that Dan did not seem to recognize the women.

When she got closer, she realized that Dan was trying to ask the women how they could have made it inside the building. Alicia rolled her eyes. What an idiot.

"Hi!" she greeted, smiling as she came to a stop next to them. "I'm Alicia, Margaret's assistant. You must be the Paxtons," she said, shaking their hands. "Margaret talks about you often," she added.

Dan frowned. "She does?"

"She didn't say you were coming to New York," Alicia said, ignoring her coworker's surprise.

"We just came from the airport. We were hoping to take Margaret out for lunch."

Alicia nodded. "You're in luck then! She doesn't have any meeting this afternoon."

Alicia was about to let them inside Margaret's office when she spotted Mr. Paxton emerging from his own office, his hair wild and with bags under his eyes. Alicia winced. She did not envy the lack of sleep that came with having a baby.

"Dan, Alicia," Mr. Paxton greeted slowly. "Can sleep deprivation cause hallucinations? Or is my family really here right now?"

His grandmother chuckled and his mother smiled softly at him. "Don't tell me you forgot we were coming," his mother said.

"I thought you said you were coming on Wednesday," Mr. Paxton said.

"It is Wednesday," Dan pointed out and his boss groaned.

"I'm sorry," he said, hugging his family. "The baby's sick and I've had like four hours of sleep in the past two days."

The door to Margaret's office opened and Alicia watched as her boss stumbled out, looking dead on her feet, and ran straight into her husband.

"Huh, honey," she mumbled. "Am I seeing things or-"

"My family's here. Apparently, it's Wednesday. By the way, where's dad?"

"He went to check in at the hotel while we came here," his mother answered.

His grandmother beamed at Margaret. "We're taking you out for lunch!" she exclaimed.

Margaret glanced at Alicia. "You don't have any meetings this afternoon," she said, handing her the cup of coffee in her hands.

Margaret nodded. "Thank you, Alicia," she said, taking the cup and immediately taking a sip.

"Come on," Mrs. Paxton said, wrapping an arm around Margaret's shoulders. "Let's get out of here. No exotic dancers this time, I swear."

Margaret chuckled weakly as she followed them out.

"Exotic dancers?" Dan asked his boss, curious, as he handed him his own cup of coffee.

Mr. Paxton rolled his eyes. "It's an old inside joke, don't worry about it." He took a gulp of coffee and closed his eyes for a second.

"Sir, you're going to be late for your lunch with Mr. Roberts," Dan said.

"Shit!" Mr. Paxton exclaimed, almost spilling his coffee. "Gotta run. See you later, guys."

Alicia smiled as she watched him run to the elevator and shook her head in disbelief. That was definitely not what she had thought her work life would be like but she would not change it for the world.

THE END


End file.
